Austin Tice has now been missing for a year

The journalist Austin Tice has been missing in Syria since Aug. 14, 2012. Writing on the anniversary of his disappearance, his family says “None of us want to place special significance on this date because we know that every one of those days has been unimaginably challenging for Austin.”

Precise numbers are difficult to pin down because many families and employers have requested media blackouts, especially in cases where it’s unclear which group – or even which side of the civil war – has custody of the missing.

… The list from just the past few months includes Syrian television journalists – Obeida Batal, Hossam Nizam al Dine and Aboud al Atik – as well as several Europeans: Polish photographer Marcin Suder, French radio journalists Didier Francois and Edouard Elias, Belgian academic and reporter Pierre Piccinin de Prata and Italian newspaper reporter Domenico Quirico.

Tice’s 32nd birthday was on Sunday, Allam writes. While Tice is believed to be held by pro-government forces in Syria, opposition forces are now “going after journalists,” Sherif Mansour of the Committee to Protect Journalists tells Allam.